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Game over for counterfeiters
False ID and credit cards cause enormous damage. Working together, Bayer MaterialScience and Bayer Technology Services have developed a forgery-proof card system
Throw some blueberries into some pancake mix and then try to make two absolutely identical pancakes from the batter, with berries in exactly the same positions. It’s a difficult challenge and, as you are probably already thinking, no matter what you do, every pancake you flip out of the pan will be different. Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) took advantage of this principle of unique surfaces to develop its specialty film Makrofol ID ProteXXion, designed to make forging credit and identification cards impossible.
Instead of stirring blueberries into its mix, BMS adds thin flecks of metal to the Makrolon polycarbonate melt during manufacturing. This material is used to make a transparent Makrofol film in which the metal flecks are positioned in random fashion. If cash cards or other types of cards are made from the specialty film, each one has a unique surface, a distinct optical code. “It is this feature that makes the cards or IDs forgery-proof,” explains BMS film specialist Georgios Tziovaras.
Cash machines validate a card by reading its magnetic strip and the electronic code embedded in it. Scam artists can swipe this information during the read step and then use fake cards to withdraw money.
Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office estimates that over EUR 40 million was stolen in Germany alone in 2008, damage that could be prevented by forgery-proof cards made of Makrofol ID ProteXXion. Naturally, the films must be paired with special technology for scanning the characteristic optical code on the cards, and this is supplied by Bayer Technology Services (BTS) and its
ProteXXion system. With the two technologies, objects can be identified with absolute certainty based on their unique surface. A laser beam scans the surface and sensors register the reflected light.
The ProteXXion system in practical application.
“Because the flecks of metal are distributed in purely random fashion, each section of a Makrofol ID ProteXXion film produces a unique reflected pattern,” explains Dr. Markus Gerigk, Head of Authentication Solutions at BTS. Using this pattern, cash machines and card readers with built-in ProteXXion equipment can reliably detect the optical code and verify the authenticity of a card. “Counterfeit cards are caught immediately,” Gerigk says. To trick this system, scam artists would first have to learn how to make two identical blueberry pancakes!
Protect product brands against counterfeiting
Zoom imageShedding light on the truth: ProteXXion scans the surface of a product with a laser. This unique information is compared with the pattern of the registered original to prove beyond a doubt whether a product is real or fake.
This overlay film can be used to give polycarbonate security documents, such as IDs, passports, drivers’ licenses and, in the future, also credit cards, an unmistakable, unique surface. It also holds excellent potential for protecting high-quality branded articles and in the production of counterfeit-proof labels. If customers require products to be labeled or if the surface of the product is not rough enough to employ the laser-optic method, customers can now take advantage of pre-registered labels from BTS, known as ProteXXion™ Secure Labels. Once applied, the labels cannot be removed without being damaged. Customers can apply these labels themselves to any products, or use them as seals on packaging.